Undwinding-machine.



T. MIDGLEY. uNw'lNnmG MACHINE.

APPLICATION HLED MAR. 7. 19H.

1,176,686.Y Patented Mar. 21,1916.

Tho/7965's Mag/gy 5 nua nto@ Mms rima. ma. mno.. insmeren, n. c.

NTED STATES PATENT FFICE.

THOMAS MIDGLEY, OF WDBTHINGTGN, OHIO, ASSIGNOB. T MORGAN WEIGHT, 0F

DETROIT, MICHIGAN,

A CORPORATION OF MICHIGAN.

UNWTNBING-MAGHINE t Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. ai', freie.v

"Tall whomr't may concern.'

Be it known" that I, THOMAS Mmonnr, a citizen of the United States,residing at Worthington, county of Franklin, and State of ho, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Unwinding-Machines, ofwhich the following is a full, clear, and eXact description.

This invention relates to machines for removing a wrapping of fabric orthe like froml shoes or casings of pneumatic tires after vulcanization.

Vhen shoes or caslngs or pneumatic tires are vulcanized or cured, it iscustomary to support these Shoes or casings upon a ring core, and toapply to the outer surface of the casings so supported, a Wrapping of'lengths of spirally wound fabric through which the heated gas of thevulcanizing chamber penetrates for vulcanizing the tire.

vAfter vulcanization, this-wrapping of fabric lis removed by hand, thesuccessive turns of the wrapping being unwound transversely from aroundthe tire shoe or casing and deposited in piles preparatory to beingspooled.

The present invention has for its object, the provision of a machine bywhich the fabric may be unwrappe'd from the tire shoe orcasing aftervulcanization. And vthe invention further provides a. machine hy whichthe unwrapping of the 4tire shoe or casing i; .,y be carried on moreexpeditiously than it can be done by hand, in that the fabric materiaiwill bereeled or spooled during the unwrapping process.

With the above objects in View, the invention consists in certaindetails of construction and the combinations of parts hereinafter fullydescribed and claimed, it being understood that various modificationsmaybe resorted to Within the scope of the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings forming part of this specification--Figure1 is a side elevation of the machine; Fig. 2 is a fragpleterevolution ofthe shuttle.

worm-gears at`13, The are. provided on their inner faces with annularguide channels 14 vto receive corresponding guide-ribs 15 formed on thefaces of an annular shuttle 16. Both the shuttle-guide and the shuttleare interrupted as shown at 17 and 18 to form gaps, which may be broughtinto coincidence so that the tire shoe or casing with its supportingring core, indicated at' 19, may be introduced Within both the shuttleand Ithe guide. To hold the ring .core and the tire in proper positionrelative tothe shuttle, oppositely tapered conical supports 20areprovided at opposite sides of the shuttle. These supports are turnedslowly for imparting a slow rotation to the ring core and tire in orderor move the same in a path transverse of the Shuttle during the'unwrapping operation, the tire and itsl core advancing a few inches ateach coin- Each of the supports 20 is mounted gna shaft 21 'which isconnected for turning with a shaft 22 by 23 and 24, theshaft 22 lbeingdriven from the main drive-shaft 25-by meshing gears26 and 27.

' Rotation is impart-ed to the shuttle 16 by a pair of gears 28 whichengage a curv rack 29 formed on the periphery of the shuttle. and aredriven from a gear 28 on the main shaft. The gears 28 engage the rack atpoints suciently far apart to insure the en- -l ent ofone of the gearswith the rack when the gap 18 in the shuttle is passing the other gearand both these gears are driven from a gear 28 mi the main shaft.

The shuttle is provided with a springressed in 30 which is mounted onone side-wall of the shuttle as shown best in Fin. 3, .and is providedin the opposite side-wall with a stub-shaft 31, the pin and stub-shaftforming supports for a reel or spool 32 which unwr'aps and spools thematerial un wrapped from the tire. The stub-'shaft is equipped with afriction drive-wheel 33 which rides upon an annular track 34 formed onthe inner face of one of the castings 12. The stub-shaft and pininterlock with the spool as shown respectively at 35 the spool at afaster of the unwinding of the tire, whereby the slack in the fabric,caused by the intermittent slowing up of the spool as the wheelpasses'through the gap 17 in the track, will be quickly taken up whenthe wheel again comes into engagement with the track. There isconsequently a slight slip of the drive-wheel on the track during therotation of the shuttle with a resultant tensioning of the fabric as itis unwound from the tire. The gaps in the guide and track expose thespool, as best shown in Fig. 1, for manual application thereto of ltheends of the various lengths of fabric of which the wrapping is composed.When the spool is so eX- posed it may be rotated idly until a sutlicientlength of the end of the fabric is wound thereon to give the spool apurchase for spooling the fabric, it being understood, of course, thatthe machine must be stopped to hold the spool in the gaps during thisoperation.

In operation the tire with its supporting core is first introduced'within the shuttle and the shuttle-guide and is mounted upon the conicalsupports 20. The end of the strip of wrapping material is given a coupleof turns about the spool to give the latter a purchase upon thematerial; The machine is then set in operation and the tire and itssupporting core are slowly rotated in their own plane as indicated inFig. 1. The shuttle is turned in the direction indicated in `Fig. 1 andcarries the spool around the tire anditssupporting core. The spool isrotatably driventduring this passage around the tire and core wherebythe material is unwound from the tire'in consecutive whirls and isspooled upon the spool, the speed of rotation of the spool being suchthat the Inaterial is tensioned lduring such spooling.

40 Vhen the wrapping is entirely removed from the tire, the tire will beremoved and replaced with another tire, the filled spool also beingremoved, if necessary, by withdrawing the spring-pressed pin 30, andreplaced with an empty spool ready for another unwrapping operation.

Having thus described my invention, what I claimv and desire to protectby Letters Patent is:

1. A device of the 'class described, comprising an annular shuttlesupport, an annular shuttle rotatably mounted therein, means formounting a tire spirally wrapped with lengths of fabric to revolve in apath through the shuttle, a take up spool for the fabric carried by theshuttle, the support and the shuttle having each an open gap adapted tobe brought into registry to per-A mit application and removal of a tiretherethrough, the support gap serving to expose the spool for manualapplication of the ends of the lengths of fabric thereto during theunwrapping operation, and a friction wheel driving the spool from thesupport and per` mitting idle rotation of the spool when in the gapthereof to facilitate application of said ends of fabric.

2. A device of the class described comprising an annular shuttlesupport, an annular shuttle rotatably mounted therein, means formounting a tire wrapped with lengths of fabric to revolve in a paththrough the shuttle, an annular track on the support, the support, theshuttle, andthe track, each having an open gap adapted to be broughtinto registry to permit application and removal of a tire therethrough,the support and track gaps serving to expose the spool for manualapplication of the ends of the lengths of fabric thereto during theunwinding operation, and a friction wheel driven from the track andpermitting idle rotation of the spool when in the gap thereof tofacilitate application of said ends of fabric, the friction wheel andVthe track being proportioned to drive the spool faster than theunwinding of the fabric whereby slack therein as the spool slows up whenthe friction wheel leaves the track and enters the gap will be quicklytaken up when.the wheel comes-again into contact with the track.

Signed at Detroit, county of lVayne, State of Michigan, this 27th day ofFebruary, 1914.

THOMAS MIDGLEY.

